The world premiere of an opera written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and based on a timeless American classic. Concerts by such touring headliners as the Urban Bush Women and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Literary readings featuring several of the nation's most well-read poets.
Indiana University 's thriving—and ever-growing—arts scene will be in full bloom during ArtsWeek, the annual campus-community arts festival in Bloomington, Ind., now celebrating its 22nd year.
ArtsWeek 2006, which will be held from Feb. 23-March 5, will offer audiences a cornucopia of opportunities to experience the best and most exciting creative work on and around campus and the community.
This year's celebration includes the world premiere of Our Town , based on Thornton Wilder's quintessential American drama, as well as a new community art project, concerts by the renowned Urban Bush Women and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, theater and dance events, film showings, gallery exhibitions, literary readings, lectures, workshops, and master classes.
“Every year we are expanding ArtsWeek to take full advantage of the remarkable talent, the strong organizing and presenting groups, and the fine facilities Bloomington has to offer,” says festival coordinator Michael Wilkerson. “ArtsWeek is not only a 10-day festival in which everyone can find multiple performances and exhibits to enjoy, but also is a model for campus-community collaboration.”
This year, Wilkerson said, “the world premiere of Our Town gives us an opportunity to celebrate something unique, and at the same time to showcase much of what makes Bloomington increasingly a cultural destination.”
The world premiere of Our Town , by Pulitzer Prize-winning and Hoosier-born composer Ned Rorem, is the centerpiece of ArtsWeek and one of the most important performances to take place at IU's Jacobs School of Music in the school's illustrious history. IU Opera Theater, the foremost collegiate opera program in the nation, will present the premiere of Our Town , with libretto by celebrated American poet and writer J.D. McClatchy, on Feb. 24. Additional performances are scheduled for Feb. 25 and March 3-4 in the Musical Arts Center on the IU Bloomington campus.
McClatchy, who will give a poetry reading at IU Bloomington on Feb. 25, is one of several esteemed writers who will visit Bloomington during the ArtsWeek festivities. Others include Marianne Boruch, Adam Langer, Campbell McGrath, John Villani, and Mary Kay Zuravleff.
A gala opening reception for ArtsWeek 2006 will be held in the Musical Arts Center lobby on Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. The event, which is free and open to the public, will precede the world premiere of Our Town .
Most ArtsWeek events are free and require no tickets. Tickets for other events may be purchased from individual venues. For a full schedule of all ArtsWeek events and information on participants, venues, and parking, visit the ArtsWeek 2006 Web site at http://www.artsweek.indiana.edu/index.php
For more information about the world premiere of Ned Rorem's new opera Our Town , go to http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/2677.html .
